My Husband Has Changed - Chapter 153



Only Noblemtl

#153. Crossroads
2024.03.01.

Before following Donovan, Adele hid the horses in a safe place.

Instead of tying up the reins somewhere, she let them down with plenty of hay.

If something were to happen, being free to move would help them survive… … .

She stopped midway through unloading her pack from the horse’s back.

Even if it was unintentional, she realized that she was acting like someone who had no expectation of returning in the first place.

“… … Be careful. If it’s dangerous, you can run away at any time, okay?”

When Adele finally came to her senses and patted Hazel, the horse looked at her with its black eyes.

It was only for a moment, but after dealing with ‘will’, she had a strange feeling that Hazel was paying attention to her words.

“You have to go now.”

At Donovan’s urging, Adele hurriedly put on her pack and walked closer to him.

What and how did they do it? A staircase leading down to the underground passage appeared in the space that had been a wasteland just a moment ago.

Adele carefully bent down and looked down the stairs.

Dry air flowed through the dark and narrow passage. She carefully checked if there was any unpleasant smell or terrible sound, but there seemed to be nothing unusual.

Donovan, who had strode down the stairs, turned to her and said,

“You must follow closely behind. If you sense anything strange down there, do not look back and leave the place. I will honor you even if you use me as bait.”

“What are you saying so frighteningly… . Don’t say such things, even as a joke.”

When Adele became serious, Donovan also became serious and answered.

“I am saying this seriously. You must put your Highness’ life before mine under any circumstances.”

“… . .”

“I will not move an inch from here unless you promise.”

She opened her lips to protest, but her brows were furrowed stubbornly, and she sank helplessly.

If she didn’t agree, she would be in a confrontation for the rest of her life.

Of course, no matter how much she promised, if she didn’t keep it, that was the end of it… …

When Adele nodded, Donovan narrowed his eyes as if he was suspicious, but didn’t ask any further.

He skillfully split the firewood and made a torch by wrapping an oiled cloth around the end.

While he was doing this, Adele grabbed a bundle of herbs and a dagger from her heavy bag.

“It’s airy,”

he said, holding Adele’s hand at the bottom of the steep, broken stairs.

It was a hopeful sign. At least this underground passage led somewhere, and it wasn’t blocked at the end.

As she descended the stairs, a narrow passage appeared.

After walking along the passage for a while, an open space that looked like a corridor appeared.

Huge pillars lined the left and right, and it looked like an ancient temple or palace.

Donovan continued, carefully illuminating the corridors with his torch.

“It’s so clean. There’s no sign that anyone has been there recently.”

He paused and carefully ran his hand over the pillars.

“And this architecture… … looks like the site of an ancient palace. Each pillar pedestal is engraved with the coat of arms of the old Nuremberg royal family.”

“The coat of arms of Nuremberg?”

“If it really is the site of an old palace, it should have been discovered further south. According to history.”

Adele bit her lip as she realized something in his words.

Certainly, the distance between the palace and the forest at that time seemed much farther than this… … Even if she had glimpsed a dream, it was not a complete memory, not something she had experienced firsthand.

“Is it a trap?”

“I don’t know yet. For now, let’s just keep moving forward. If something goes wrong, we can just turn back immediately. However, even torches have their limits. “The key is how long the light can hold out… … .”

“I think I can handle that.”

A gaze as if asking what on earth she was planning was fixed on her face.

Adele took a deep breath slowly. It felt a little awkward to use magic so openly in front of someone.

Adele closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. As she slowly drew up her magical power, dozens of small halos of light rose from her hands. She

saw Donovan gape with a face as if he were about to faint.

“Oh my God.”

She carefully opened her clasped hands while maintaining concentration.

A bluish halo of light scattered into the dark space, illuminating the path.

It looked as beautiful as hundreds of fireflies flying into the sky at once.

Adele asked, bashfully, her fingertips hovering over the halo of light.

“Will this help?”

Donovan nodded with a pale face, as expected of a northerner who was weak to superstition.

He stammered, his face weaker than ever.

“S-s-shall I really be a demon… … not a demon, are you… … ?”

“Do I look like a demon?”

“No, but… … .”

“This is all I can do for now. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve been able to control magic.”

Donovan burst out laughing at her honest answer, as if he was amazed.

“It looks similar to holy power at first glance, but the color is like this… … . This alone will cause another heresy trial. How did you hide it so well all this time… … .”

He let out an exclamation that was either admiration or awe. Adele clenched her hands tightly, hesitating.

“I trust you to keep my secret.”

“How on earth do you see me…?”

He looked at her as if he was criticizing her.

“Anyway, I’m glad His Majesty didn’t plan this without any countermeasures. You said that you could tell where His Majesty the Grand Duke was because of this special power.”

Donovan quickly recovered from his initial shock.

He even seemed relieved at first. Perhaps he had been secretly doubting the power she possessed. In

any case, as the path became brighter, his pace began to pick up.

As he walked along the passage, Adele was gradually overcome by a strange sense of foreboding.

‘How strange…’

He kept thinking that this was not where the palace site should be.

It should have been located closer to the south, as Donovan had said, and there wasn’t even an underground corridor like this.

Adele, who was walking while deep in thought, almost bumped into Donovan, who was walking ahead of her, because he suddenly stopped walking.

“What’s going on?”

“The road is divided into two.”

“Two?”

Donovan stepped aside in front of her as if to let her see for herself. As he had said, the road was divided into two.

“You have to choose one. Don’t even think about going apart.”

“Then just wait a moment.”

Adele closed her eyes and focused her breathing slowly.

It was her first time manifesting her power in front of someone other than Valentin, so she was nervous, but she couldn’t back down. This was the only way.

She slowly tried to resonate as Valentin had guided her. She

recalled the memory of manifesting her ‘will’ with her own power, even if it was only once… …

‘Valentin.’

Was it because she lacked concentration? Or was she overly conscious of her surroundings? Even though she had clearly followed the method that had been successful, her will did not budge at all.

Adele clasped her hands together and concentrated her senses once more.

A hot, squirming magic rose from near her navel, and then slowly wrapped around her heart.

She was caught up in the strange heat and desperately wished.

‘Where are you? Answer me!’

She was full of confidence that her will would manifest, but ironically, her will did not budge.

As if it were mocking her past successes.

Adele bit her lips, panting. There was no need to be frustrated. She could just keep going until she succeeded.

It was the moment when she was hastily trying to summon her will again. Donovan let out a shout that was either exclamation or shock.

“Rain, Vision!”

Adele opened her closed eyes at his urgent voice.

The halos of light that had filled her surroundings were moving toward one path as if guiding her way. Adele let out an exclamation at this unbelievable miracle.

“I guess Vision’s… “I think your special ability is that this is the way. Is that right?”

Why was it? At that moment, Adele felt a strange sense of unease.

Was it because she wasn’t sure if the resonance had succeeded or if Valentin had noticed her presence and responded? Adele lightly grabbed Donovan’s sleeve.

“… … Yes, but it might be dangerous.”

“It’s too late for a warning.”

Donovan smirked and adjusted his grip on the torch he was holding.

“Let’s go first. If it’s dangerous, we can always run away.”

He started walking briskly along the path.

Adele quickly followed him. How long had he walked? Far from seeing any light, it seemed like the fog was getting thicker around him.

Adele looked back with an anxious expression. She had been sensing an unfamiliar presence behind her for a few minutes.

“Donovan, just a moment… … .”

Adele reached out to grab Donovan, who was walking ahead, and was taken aback. In that moment, the fog had thickened, and even he had disappeared without a trace.

“Donovan?”
　

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